I have been reading Tara Brach's book "Radical Acceptance" and what has stood out for me is the notion of the "sacred pause". We usually keep ourselves extremely busy, so that we don't have to feel and really be with that is, because being present can be very uncomfortable. When we take a moment and simply pause to feel how we are and what we are experiencing, we are creating a space and thereby we are creating choice. The pause can be as short as a couple of deep breaths, but it can also stretch over several months. It is a way of creating room to be with the experience and not to rush into the next thing, properly sensing what is actually happening in that moment in time. Tara Brach states: "Often the moment when we most need to pause is exactly when it feels most intolerable to do so".

Next time you are getting overwhelmed and you feel swept away by feeling and the situation around you, take a sacred pause and notice how you are and what you can sense in your body.